Yeah what will it take to wake up GM to start building the MPV5 Voltech? Maybe when the Outlander PHEV is outselling the Volt they will finally get the hint. I am guessing that if Mitsubishi can multi-source there batteries and get production up that the Outlander PHEV could be their #1 selling model.

As we have so often said on these message boards, a plug-in hybrid SUV was a no brainer. I don’t understand why no else did it. I can only guess that they were too afraid of cutting into their profits of their traditional gas-only SUVs.

I had been thinking they just don’t want to mess up in the US market or be way behind demand that they couldn’t supply. But, probably they are just trying not to cannibalize SUV sales in the US as they sell off that inventory. Other automakers are likely doing what you say, just trying to maximize profits. Tesla is going to have such a huge advantage as they scale up, provide more options, and bring the prices down.

I cannot fathom why they got rid of the Escape hybrid. True, they weren’t cheap, but they weren’t all *that* more expensive than the 4-cyl ICE versions, comparably equipped. And with that electric motor, I can attest that it drives more like the 3.0L V6 than the 2.5L I-4. So, if you look at it in terms of performance as well as options, the premium was actually pretty small, particularly when compared to gas savings over 50k miles between the hybrid and the V6.

c-max + escape is greatly outselling escape + escape hybrid from the past. I think for ford a clean sheet phev iAwd crossoever would do well. I don’t think you can just shove the energi system into the esacpe and sell any better than the c-max phev.

I hope Mitsubishi U.S. operations are still around and strong enough to bring this to the U.S eventually. Not sure about other areas but it seems like the number of dealerships has dwindled. The Montero, Eclipse and Evo use to be decent selling competitive cars but what has been selling well for Mitsubishi lately?